Photo: Excerpt from an Article published Aug.16, 1877 in The Monongahela Republican source, Newspapers.com. The referenced Culpeper Times of 1877 has no association with the current-day Culpeper Times publication.

Another teaser to feed your “anticipation.”

Coming to a newspaper near you- that would be the Culpeper Times, of course- will be a series of stories on a tragic act of terrorism in our beloved America: the practice of lynching. Right out of the gate let me state that I know it is ugly, frightening and gruesome. I also know that across the country communities where lynching occurred have not truly healed. They have not owned the travesties, nor perhaps do they recognize the relevance in the current acts of violence in the name of hatred, bigotry, oppression and white supremacy. We can do better and that is my goal.

I have no fantasies of changing the world, however, I am compelled to do my small part. If you and others will read the stories all supported by facts, you will certainly become better informed and dare I say enlightened. We have stuck our heads in the sand, turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to horrific events meant to oppress a people through unadulterated fear. It is time we lift the veil and examine the facts.

You may be questioning: why now? It is my fervent hope that the atrocities perpetrated against people who were different and particularly those of a darker skin tone will always remain in our past, though the evidence of current-day hate groups and the resurgence of Ku Klux Klan activities would contradict that hope. The heinous acts of our fathers cannot be undone, but their transgressions continue to impact us all regardless of our ethnicity or religious beliefs in ways that are unhealthy and counterproductive to a progressive civilized nation. We can do better!

We can own our past, validate the victims and condemn such conduct then and now. The first step as uncomfortable as it might be is to learn the truth about a few of the events. The Equal Justice Initiative recently opened a memorial in Montgomery, Alabama to victims of lynching. They have documented four thousand individuals who were murdered between the years of 1877 and 1955. Most were black men, but not all.

Two of the victims were from Culpeper County, VA: Charles Allie Thompson (1918) and William Thompson (1877). We have learned of a third: the lynching of a free person of color in 1850. No doubt there were others who died of mysterious or undocumented causes. Nonetheless, we will focus on these three.

The story of Allie Thompson was meticulously researched by myself in 2005 and a three-part series was co-authored by Alison Brophy- Champion and myself and published in 2006 by the Culpeper Star Exponent. I continued the research and discovered additional facts; we will have a look at those facts again.

The story of William Thompson, no relation to Charles Allie Thompson, headlined in The Monongahela Republican (Pennsylvania) How They Do in Virginia: “An outrage was committed on the person of a young white girl by a negro man in the vicinity of Mitchells Station. Certainty, and severity, of punishment, is the only remedy for such heinous crimes.” The statements were republished from an article in a local Culpeper paper. William Thompson was arrested then kidnapped from the jail and hanged before any evidence was collected or a trial conducted.

I was alerted to the third known incident by friend and history buff Tim Thompson (also no relation to the two Thompson men noted here). The man’s name was William Grayson and in 1850 he was accused of a crime and tried at court, but the locals were not satisfied with the outcome and chose to take matters into their own hands.

The folks that live in and around the Lake of the Woods (LOW) area of Orange County are very interested in learning more about the African American families that settled there after Emancipation. Last Friday, I enjoyed an opportunity to speaking about a few facts that have been gleaned from a variety of records in a PowerPoint presentation for the LOW Civil War Study Group.

I am sharing with you some of the highlights of the talk in hopes of drawing out some local knowledge. We have a long path to follow and all assistance we receive from family histories, oral or otherwise, will be most appreciated.

It is useful to set the stage that was Orange County, Virginia in 1860, at least as it reflects the nature of the population. The census for that year reported Orange County having 10,851 inhabitants: 4,740 of those were listed as free with an estimated 97percent of those being white. 6,111 or 56.3 percent of the population were enslaved people of color.

One of the guests at the presentation later commented that it was stunning that though more than 50 percent of those that lived and worked in the county presumably for generations were black, there was a scarcity of history if any at all.

Questions were abundant. Did they stay in the county after Emancipation? Where did they live, work and worship? Do some of their descendants remain in the area? Did they have businesses, professions and/or farms? Inquiring minds want to know!

Checking the 1870 Census for Orange County, Virginia reported an estimated population of 5,200 African Americans to a population of 5,198 whites. These figures are not exact.

We have unearthed a few names from the Personal Property Tax Records of 1868. The following names were African American men 21 years of age or older who were listed as working for one of two gold mines in the LOW area.

We have yet to examine the 1869 records or look for the connections with other mines in the area i.e. the Grasty Mine, but we must start somewhere. Tracing these men should provide some direction as to their lives and possible descendants after 1868.

The next step in determining who else might have settled in the area is to place on a map the early churches for the freedmen and the proximate locations of the largest former slaveholders. Off the top of my head, here are some examples: Pilgrim Baptist Church, established in 1877, and the farms that once belonged to the Jones-Lacy families, the Willis family and certainly others.

Pilgrim Baptist Church, est. 1877 in Locust Grove, Virginia

Another example would be the area surrounding Mount Zion Baptist Church on Gov. Almond Road (see featured photo). Their website www. http://mntzion.org/ has a wealth of information, including the names of a few of the early congregants known as the “Prayer Band”: Armstead, Broads, Brooks, Carter, Cottoms, Henderson, Johnson, Lewis, Minor, and Vass. The website also names a few of the communities that are worthy of further investigation: Lewistown, Peter Bottom, Fox Neck, and Flat Run. The church, under the leadership of Pastor Sanford Reaves Jr., Deacon William Washington, and Trustee Clayton Tyler, has provided an exemplary history of the church.

All information is welcome and there will be more stories to follow.

Originally published in the Orange County Review on May 3, 2018

]]>http://historyinvestigator.net/2018/05/buried-truth-african-american-families-of-locust-grove/feed/0ZANN’S PLACE: Anticipation of interesting storieshttp://historyinvestigator.net/2018/05/zanns-place-anticipation-of-interesting-stories/
http://historyinvestigator.net/2018/05/zanns-place-anticipation-of-interesting-stories/#respondThu, 03 May 2018 15:24:26 +0000http://historyinvestigator.net/?p=720Anticipation! The magic potion that gets us up in the morning; gets us past the humdrum of routine, and often over the hump of life’s less than desirable events. It helps if the anticipation is for the promise of good things: presents, sweet time with family and friends, a great meal, good bottle of wine or that first smell of rebirth when the sun finally warms the dirt beneath your feet.

But wait there is more! For those of us with a pioneering spirit, a love of adventure and the quest for new knowledge the possibilities are limitless. Every day, every meeting, every new person, or every time one walks out of the door there is that amazing opportunity for new discoveries.

And my point is you ask?

I am working on a couple of stories that are absolutely fascinating! I do not yet have enough facts to offer a full and well-documented report but thought you would enjoy a teaser. Just enough of the concept to whet your appetite and create a little of that delightful anticipation.

Credit where credit is due: I was alerted to the event by a reader from Washington, DC via Orange County.

In 1907 articles in the Washington DC papers reported on a “riot in Rapidan, VA,” a: race- riot no less. It appears that on September 2, 1907, a group of black men after boarding the train at the Rapidan station attempted to sit in the “Whites Only” section. When the conductor could not persuade them otherwise he removed them from the train. That was not the end of the story.

Once off the train they allegedly attacked the station master and began to throw “sticks and stones” at the trainmen. Apparently, word had spread rapidly as they were met by a large crowd of white men armed with baseball bats. According to a newspaper report, one of the rioters slipped off to a nearby house and returned with a gun. Instead of wounding one of the white men, this same man was shot in the leg, presumably not self-inflicted. The articles closed the report stating that a few of the men were arrested and taken to Culpeper to await a hearing.

I have searched the courthouse for records and so far, have come up empty-handed. There are more files to examine.

I met with the gentleman that put me on to the story and reported my findings. He not being from the South suggested that perhaps after some consideration the local authorities determined no harm, no foul and dropped the case. I was not convinced.

I continued the research and found several additional articles (under different headings). Those commentaries painted a different picture theorizing that the attempt to break the Jim Crow law by sitting in a “No Coloreds Allowed” section of the train was a ruse: the real intent was to murder the station master.

I now have a more detailed account of the event with names! Until I can give you the best of my research, ponder on the statement below written in one of the newly discovered publications two days after the event.

The article reported that two negroes named Jim and Frank – I have withheld the last names for now- were arrested. Jim was taken to Culpeper to await the next Grand Jury hearing and Frank was “fined and imprisoned at hard labor.”

With names in my pocket, I will return to the courthouse and attempt to speak with someone that may have heard the stories. You can bet there will be more to come!

There is nothing that gets us closer to the truth than open, honest and fact-based debate. Recently, I experienced a taste of debate with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) and am grateful, but not done.

The language on the revised roadside marker was based on a supposition that the Englishmen residing in Jamestown and surrounds in 1619 encountered Africans before only as slaves, if not by law then by custom. The conclusion then is that they carried that custom with them to the Virginia Colony.

Logic and some fact support this theory. At least a few of the folks at Jamestown were previously in the Caribbean where slavery of Africans was the practice. Also, let’s not forget that when captured, the “20 and odd Africans” were enslaved and bound for sale to New Spain.

My argument is simple. If we are willing to accept one supposition, should we not consider others? Is it enough to cite custom in another country and ignore the custom or practice in the area in question?

Before 1619, in the colony of Virginia, there is no evidence of Africans. Thus, it is fair to presume there existed no laws, customs or practices about Africans.

The arrival of the “20 and odd Negroes” (as described by John Rolfe) was not by request, order, or plan by the colonists. The unexpected arrival may have caused a level of confusion.

No doubt, some of the colonists saw the opportunities in “keeping” the new arrivals to expand their personal wealth via the headright system. In the headright system, the head of household received 50 acres for every member of his household including spouse, children and servants.

There existed a conundrum. In the Virginia colony in 1619, there was no law, custom or practice of slavery: not of Africans (there were not Africans), Native Americans, or Europeans. However, the laws governing indentured servants were well established and in practice in the colony.

Is it not logical to suppose that the solution for the unexpected arrival of the Africans was to sell them as indentured servants?

In fact, there is documentation of named individual Africans who served as indentured servants.

The challenge is that there has yet to be found a record of any discussion by the governmental body resulting in an official opinion pertaining to the status of the 20 and odd. At this point, it is hypothesis, conjecture, logic, peppered with a few scattered facts, that rule the day. That needs to be very clear.

Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) historic markers—approved VDHR—are limited to 100 words. A momentous challenge, for sure. Regardless, it is incumbent upon any historian or historic entity to be hyper-vigilant in its choice of words. The public views such statements and exhibits as gospel, creating an enormous burden and responsibility on the authors.

A dear friend once advised me to always examine the profile and agenda of the individual espousing an opinion. It is an instructive piece of advice.

The facts that exist surrounding the Jamestown settlement and particularly the arrival of the first Africans in 1619 are scant at best. As we disseminate theories, we must provide all known facts, customs and practices. Otherwise, we are projecting only one variation of the story and nothing from those without a voice.

Stay tuned for an interesting discussion of the differences between the words history, historiography and historicity.

Lots of talk of more like this….Stay tuned and if you have not become a member or shown your love and support for OCAAHS, maybe you should do that today. Check out their FB page by clicking on their name on the list of sponsors on the right site of this page.

Coverage of the event will be posted as it is received.

Upward and Onward!!

]]>http://historyinvestigator.net/2018/01/black-baseball-in-virginia-wow/feed/0Letters Home: Howard C. Lawson Jr. Lives!http://historyinvestigator.net/2018/01/letters-home-howard-c-lawson-jr-lives/
http://historyinvestigator.net/2018/01/letters-home-howard-c-lawson-jr-lives/#respondTue, 02 Jan 2018 23:47:21 +0000http://historyinvestigator.net/?p=387I could not have received better news and no doubt, Howard Lawson was also pleased that he was not dead, as I had been informed!I could not have received better news and no doubt, Howard Lawson was also pleased that he was not dead, as I had been informed!

If you are just now tuning in you will need to be brought up to speed or at least a refresher. The week before Christmas, I was contacted by a local gentleman offering a packet of letters found in a house he had purchased. I accepted the letters and in reading them determined that they were written between 1967 and 1969 from a young man who had recently enlisted in the navy to his mother living at the homeplace in Amissville, VA. I was very keen on finding the author or his family so that I might return the letters. My research led me to a distant cousin in Ohio who informed me that the young man had died along with his wife and daughter. Last week’s column closed with an entreaty for anyone who might know where Howard C. Lawson, Jr.’s brother or other family member might be to please contact me.

Within 24 hours, a colleague called me stating that she had found the person I was looking for — the brother — and provided his phone number.

I was so pleased to have found a relative and wasted little time in calling him. He answered on the third or fourth ring, but things were immediately a bit awkward.

I introduced myself right away and said I understood that someone had called to let him know that I would be calling about his brother and some letters. He was quiet, almost hesitant, and I was unsure of what was happening.

I am not at all unfamiliar with cold calling, generally beginning the conversation with “Hello, my name is Zann Nelson; we have not yet met, and I am not selling anything.” I usually follow that with a statement about historic research and announce the name of the person I am studying. It typically goes well.

But something was not quite right. I understand skepticism and never fail to be patient; I was beginning to think the man was not a relative at all. I asked if he had a brother named Howard Lawson who served in the Navy on the USS Saratoga?

The man on the other end of the phone said his name was Howard C. Lawson, Jr and that his father was a Sr. and he had served on the USS Saratoga. I was completely stunned! I realized the man who wrote the letters that I now had in my possession; the man I thought to be dead, was speaking to me.

I could not contain my exuberance; “You are the one who wrote the letters and you are not dead!” He laughed and agreed with my conclusion.

His wife- who is also not deceased- got on the phone for a delightful three-way conversation for about 20 minutes. Howard reminisced about the homeplace, his parents, Amissville and the Navy. By the way, his daughter is alive and well in Boston, Massachusetts, having graduated from the University of Massachusetts.

When I asked how I should transfer the letters to him, he said he would like to make a personal visit in March (he now lives in Pennsylvania). We have set a date and I know I will learn a great deal more about the Lawsons of Rappahannock County, Virginia.

Until next week, be well.

Note: The colleague who contacted me is a private investigator specializing in finding estranged family members. If anyone wishes to get in touch with her, please contact me.

]]>http://historyinvestigator.net/2018/01/letters-home-howard-c-lawson-jr-lives/feed/0Letters Homehttp://historyinvestigator.net/2017/12/letters-home/
http://historyinvestigator.net/2017/12/letters-home/#respondThu, 28 Dec 2017 13:37:07 +0000http://historyinvestigator.net/?p=333A few days before Christmas, I was contacted by a fellow who had purchased an older house that had not been lived in for quite some time and had fallen into serious disrepair. That and the fact that it was located on a power line easement left few options: he donated the house to the local fire department for training purposes.

However, before the former home was set ablaze, the rooms were checked for items of significance or sentiment. He found a packet of letters and reached out to me thinking I might find them useful. He stated, “I hate to see them destroyed.”

I retrieved the letters that same day and in between errands in town I began to read.

The letters were written from a son to his mother over a period of about eighteen months in 1967-’69 after the young man had enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

There was nothing profound in the contents but in some ways, that is exactly what makes them worth saving. The thoughts contained on the military stationary were ordinary- just like most of us.

He writes frequently and always to his mother: “Dear Moma,” inquiring about her health, that of his Daddy’s and offering advice to his younger brother.

He never fails to update the family as to how he is getting along, the nature of his daily routine, class work and the quality of the food.

As an African American he makes only a couple of observations about being Black stating in one letter that discrimination is still around.

He talks openly about being homesick, wishing he were home and especially missing his Moma’s applesauce. Yet, he never complains, instead he talks about how it really is not so bad. “You just have to listen and do what they tell you.” He advises his little brother to work hard in school and then to consider joining the Navy as he has done.

A few weeks prior to setting out for boot camp, the young man had graduated from high school but had left prior to receiving his diploma. It was a worry for him. In several letters he questions his mother as to whether his diploma had arrived. He expressed both relief and satisfaction when informed it had been received. This coupled with his apprehension about the written tests he had to pass as part of his training shed a glimmer of light on his thoughts about education and gave motive to his regular admonitions to his brother regarding his diligence in school.

He made it through the nine weeks of boot camp and was assigned to the aircraft carrier the USS Saratoga. The new stationary was colorfully imprinted with a picture of the ship and his missives home were full of the countries they visited and the routine when at sea.

Though he was thousands of miles away from home, he often acted as an intermediary for other family members, relaying messages between them. It was evident that he had become a spokesperson for the family.

It was my intention to find him or a family member and return the letters to their rightful place by Christmas. A cousin in Ohio told me that he, his wife and his daughter had all died. I was even more driven to find his brother.

The young man’s name is Howard Creed Lawson, Jr. born in Fauquier County, VA in 1949 and lived with his family in Amissville, VA until he enlisted. If anyone knows of a relative, please contact me.

The house at 121 West Piedmont Street (formerly West Slaughter Street) in the town of Culpeper has a long and fascinating history, despite the fact that it is now being taken down due to public safety issues. This was part of a series written by Zann Nelson and published in 2015 by the Culpeper Star Exponent

The intentions of the new owner, Robert Bobbitt, and writer Zann Nelson are to discover and document as much of its history as possible. It is believed that the original house was built as a one-room, one-story structure well before 1860 and that investigation continues. This installment highlights the home’s longest ownership of 120 years by the Sawney Payne family. ~~~~

Sawney Payne and his wife, Cora Gatewood Lewis, practiced a legacy of earnest work, educated minds and civil attitudes toward one’s friends and neighbors. They were exemplary role models and left an indelible mark on their children, grandchildren and the community at large.

Payne was born, most likely into slavery, in Louisa County in 1854 to Joseph and Grace Payne. The 1870 Census record lists him as not being able to read or write and working as a farm laborer. However, Payne was a man on the move.

In the 15 years since the end of the American Civil War and the passing of the 13th Amendment abolishing the institution of slavery, Payne’s status had change dramatically. The 1880 Census record reported the 26-year-old as working for the railroad and having acquired the ability to read and write.

Armed with his freedom and aspirations for a better life, Payne left the place of his birth heading north, presumably in search of improved employment and maybe, just maybe, a suitable bride.

Was his stop in Culpeper County purposeful or planned only as an interim respite on the journey north? His original intentions may never be known, but history tells us that Culpeper became his home; perhaps influenced by finding that one special woman. Sawney Payne, at age 31, and Cora Gatewood Lewis, a 20-year-old from Culpeper, married in 1885.

The young couple began raising a family that would see seven of their nine children live to become contributing citizens to their respective communities, with the majority remaining in Culpeper.

During the late 1800s, sustainable work for a young black man in Culpeper County was a scarcity. Payne would often be away from home for weeks finding employment in areas to the north. His great-granddaughter, Angela Chapman, remembers her grandmother telling how her father hated being away from the family and putting the burden of child rearing solely on the shoulders of Cora.

After 10 years of this kind of routine, Payne had saved a small amount of money and he and Cora made a life-changing decision: Payne would open his own business as a licensed barber and the couple would buy a house within walking distance of the shop.

Black ownership of real property within only a few decades after the end of slavery was not the norm; however, in 1895, with the support of the Rev. Willis Madden and the church family at Antioch Baptist Church, the Paynes went into debt for $171 and purchased the house at 121 West Slaughter Street.

According to census records from 1900 to 1940, the Paynes would be the sole African American family on the block and according to their descendants, were well respected in the neighborhood.

“The neighborhood children would play in our backyard and grandmother’s only rule was that everyone got along. If they did not, she sent them home,” remembered Angela Chapman.

Court records indicate that the Paynes had paid off their debt by 1900 and with a house full of children plus an in-law or two it was well past time to build an addition. A substantial L-wing addition was constructed circa 1910 that included an eat-in kitchen, parlor, foyer with a new staircase and two bedrooms on the second floor, bringing the total number of bedrooms to four.

The original first floor living space was remodeled and converted into a formal dining room and the original steps were believed to have been removed during this renovation.

The well-landscaped yard, enclosed with a white picket fence, included a small barn for livestock and hay storage, fruit trees and a vegetable garden. The house, when purchased in 1895, was wrapped on two sides with a covered porch that enjoyed the Cora Payne’s green thumb until her death in 1951.

The Paynes were pillars in the community and demanded the same of their children. All were members of Antioch Baptist Church; the five sons each became licensed barbers, setting a high standard of service in the barbering industry, and the two girls, Lillian and Annie, were sent to college.

Annie Payne, born in 1894, graduated from Virginia State College for Negroes in 1913 (now known as Virginia State University) and founded in 1882 as the first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher learning for black Americans in the United States. Annie’s and sister Lillian’s graduations were a rare accomplishment among all women of that era. Annie would return to Culpeper, marry William Lovell and teach in the segregated public school system until the 1950s.

The oldest son, Gordon Payne, would eventually leave the family shop on Main Street and open his own barber business in a small cinder block building constructed for that purpose on a lot sandwiched between Antioch Baptist Church and his two story home on West Street.

Gordon Payne was the father of two men well known to the Culpeper community: Jimmy Payne, who owned and operated Culpeper’s shoe repair shop alongside of his wife who was a chemist with a degree from Howard University and a master at dyeing shoes any color one could possibly imagine, and “Ace” Payne, who owned a barber shop at the south end of Main and was integrally involved with the Culpeper community always seeking to improve the quality of life.

A relationship with the Culpeper community began for the Paynes at 121 West Piedmont Street in 1895 and continued for 120 years. The Culpeper community has benefitted from the family’s dedication to education, civic mindfulness and strong work ethic.

As the investigation of the pre-Payne era of the house at 121 W. Piedmont continues, please watch for upcoming articles in the Culpeper Star-Exponent and online at www.starexponent.com .

]]>http://historyinvestigator.net/2017/12/the-paynes-of-piedmont-street-120-years-of-culpeper-history/feed/0Can we talk about Stevensburg?http://historyinvestigator.net/2017/12/stevensburg/
http://historyinvestigator.net/2017/12/stevensburg/#respondMon, 11 Dec 2017 06:57:44 +0000http://historyinvestigator.net/?p=1Stevensburg may seem insignificant now, but once a flourishing crossroads of young America she had a promising future. Still today, the village possesses a sparkling history and remains near and dear to many.

The village, well established by the mid-1700s at the busy intersection of Kirtley and Carolina roads, was known by the name of York and for a time was the largest community in Culpeper County.

Included among the early settlers of York was the Zimmerman family, of Spotswood’s Germania (Germanna) settlement.

But the German colonists were not the only ones to recognize the potential for commercial and agricultural productivity. It was the new frontier, a significant westward route, a hub for travel and excellent farmland. The possibilities for growth and economic gain attracted wealthy land speculators as well.

In 1782, on 50 acres owned by William Bradley, a town was established by the Virginia Legislature and named for Revolutionary War hero and Culpeper citizen, Gen. Edward Stevens.

The town was laid out in half-acre lots with a “convenient” system of streets. Most early towns consisted of a primary street commonly referred to as “Front” or the name of the founder as in Culpeper’s “Coleman,” a secondary street often called simply “Back” street and one or two connecting side streets.

In Stevensburg, the original primary street is functional and known today as York Road or Route 600. Back Street is not passable and barely recognizable. However, Spring Street, one of the original connecting side streets, exists near the site of Wale’s Tavern. Who knows what a stroll along these ancient paths might reveal?

Purchasers of these original lots were required to build a 16-foot square dwelling “fit for habitation within three years.” It is not clear how many of the lots were sold, but within 18 years, 21 investors had purchased one or more lots. The application of some simple math would suggest that within 25 years there were as many as 21 houses in the town of Stevensburg.

The North/South age-old Carolina Road was well traveled, and where it intersected with the East West Kirtley Trail would become a vibrant crossroad. Those seeking a respite from their travels could find accommodations at Zimmerman’s Tavern, believed to have been popular with Thomas Jefferson; Miss Betty Wale’s Tavern or perhaps, the good folks at Salubria might have offered a spare bed.

Within walking distance of the traffic congested intersection were two taverns, two stores, a post office, blacksmith shop, tannery and Masonic Hall.

Nearby were the sources for municipal water at Bradley’s and Yowell’s spring, the latter being the suspected location of the notorious area known as Wicked Bottom.
The banks of Mountain Run, less than a mile north of the town would support the commercial operations of a mill and a munitions factory.

The rapidly growing population and the evidence of an increasing number of wealthy families gave rise to the establishment of the Stevensburg Academy where the wealthy were educated and where Dr. John Wharton established a medical school.

Stevensburg was certainly not without religious influence. The Quakers established the Southland Meeting with a house of worship and a cemetery as early as 1788 and would remain in Stevensburg until the 1820s.

The Baptists would have the greatest influence in Stevensburg, beginning with the Mt. Pony Church in 1774, the founding of the Stevensburg Baptist Church in 1833 and the establishment of St. Stevens Baptist Church shortly after the end of the Civil War.

Surrounding the town of Stevensburg were large plantations, many of whose owners would be recorded as the founding fathers of Culpeper County. Supporting these farming and commercial operations was a large population of enslaved people, many of whom chose to remain in the area after Emancipation and establishing vibrant communities.

There is certainly more than meets the eye!

Until next, be well.

Note: All properties mentioned are privately owned, please be respectful.

]]>http://historyinvestigator.net/2017/12/stevensburg/feed/0Buried Truth: Black patriots of the Civil War from Orange Countyhttp://historyinvestigator.net/2015/11/buried-truth-black-patriots/
http://historyinvestigator.net/2015/11/buried-truth-black-patriots/#respondThu, 19 Nov 2015 03:12:25 +0000http://www.scissorthemes.com/writty/fashion/?p=29Did you know that dozens of Orange County-born African Americans fought for freedom during the American Civil War? Are you familiar with the acronym USCT? The information is far too vast to share in one column or even two, but I can introduce you to the subject and some fascinating stories about the courageous individuals who were native to Orange County.

Accepting black men into the army as fighting soldiers during the American Civil War was an evolutionary process that came too late for the Confederacy and may have been a significant factor in winning the war for the Union forces.

History documents refugee slaves making their way into Union camps as early as 1861; however Federal policy had no rules on how they should handle the situation. Many of those who reached the supposed safety of a Union camp were returned to their masters. There were so many that attempted refuge at Fort Monroe near Hampton that a new law was hastily devised that categorized those who could prove that they were enslaved by the enemy as “contraband” of war and thus could be claimed as property by the Union Army.

They would work as blacksmiths, teamsters, cooks, laborers and body servants, but not yet as soldiers.

It wasn’t until January 1, 1863, as a portion of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, that the idea of a sanctioned branch of the army specifically for black soldiers was conceived. On May 22, 1863, General Order No. 143 was passed that established the Bureau of Colored Troops later called the United States Colored Troops (USCT), making the recruitment of black men into military service as bona fide soldiers a reality.

It would still take time for their value as fighting men to be fully recognized, but by the end of the war they were fully engaged in combat where needed.

The numbers vary and the regimental records are not nearly as comprehensive as those of the white regiments, nonetheless, the military documents report the names of no less than 178,000 men of color who became soldiers in one of the segregated units. The enlistees constituted 10 percent of the entire Union Army: a much-needed injection of fresh fighters at a time when thousands of soldiers were decidedly war-weary. One might ponder with legitimacy the outcome of this horrific conflict had the freemen and former enslaved persons not chosen to place at risk their physical well-being for the Union cause.

Their risk and those of the white officers who commanded their regiments was far greater than the average soldier. The Confederacy had declared that any black man captured in a Federal uniform or any white man captured as a commander of a black regiment could be executed on site without regard to accepted policy toward prisoners of war.

To date we have identified nearly 100 men who enlisted in the USCT giving their place of birth as Orange County, Virginia. It is high time they were recognized and honored!
Stay tuned for more stories about these men.
Until next week, be well.